Americans United - Glenn Beckhttps://au.org/tags/glenn-beck
enThe Zealots Strike Back: Latest Religious Right Sputtering Over Marriage Equality Is More Weak Tea https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-zealots-strike-back-latest-religious-right-sputtering-over-marriage
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Leaders of the Religious Right continue to hold out hope that one state will attempt to &#039;nullify&#039; the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>I’ve been monitoring the Religious Right’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, and I’m not impressed.</p><p>So far, the reaction of these groups has been limited to championing the cause of lazy government clerks who don’t want to <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-clerk-casey-davis-ordered-comply-law-gay-marriage-n389851">do their jobs</a>, issuing <a href="http://defendmarriage.org/">tepid statements</a> full of sound and fury but that signify nothing and getting all excited over the possibility that some government official somewhere might decide to be foolish enough to defy the decision.</p><p>Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council is, for example, swooning over the fact that some members of the Louisiana Supreme Court have <a href="http://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20150710/supreme-court-logic">criticized the ruling.</a></p><p>The Louisiana high court had before it a case dealing with a same-sex couple who sought to have their marriage recognized to facilitate an adoption. The issue of the legality of the couple’s marriage became moot after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 26 in <em><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">Obergefell v. Hodges</a></em>, and it should have been a routine matter for the Louisiana Supreme Court to dismiss the case. But three justices decided to use the legal tussle as a vehicle to go off on a tangent over the <em>Obergefell</em> ruling.</p><p>In an alarming rant, Justice Jeannette Knoll accused the U.S. Supreme Court of imposing its will “over the solemn expression of the people” and warned of the “horrific impact these five lawyers have made on the democratic rights of the American people to define marriage.”</p><p>“It is a sad day in America when five lawyers beholden to none and appointed for life can rob the people of their democratic process, forcing so-called civil liberties regarding who can marry on all Americans when the issue was decided by the states as solemn expressions of the will of the people,” <a href="http://www.lasc.org/opinions/2015/14CA2090.opn.pdf">Knoll carped</a>. “I wholeheartedly disagree and find that, rather than a triumph of constitutionalism, the opinion of these five lawyers is an utter travesty as is my constrained adherence to their ‘law of the land’ enacted not by the will of the American people but by five judicial activists.”</p><p>Government officials in Louisiana, of all states, should understand the danger of subjecting the basic rights of a minority group to a majority vote. Alas, some choose to ignore the clear lessons of history.</p><p>Other Religious Right leaders continue to hold out hope that one state will “nullify” the Supreme Court’s ruling – that is, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/nullification-again/397373/">try to ignore it</a>. Again, the country learned during the civil-rights era that this won’t fly, but the gang at the American Family Association (AFA) either doesn’t know that or simply wants to ignore it.</p><p>The AFA has settled on Alabama as its primary candidate for a nullification stunt. The group probably believes it might fare well there, since that state’s supreme court is in the hands of an extremist who’s capable of just about anything, <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/april-2015-church-state/featured/court-jester">Chief Justice Roy Moore</a>.</p><p>Liberty Counsel, a Religious Right legal group housed at Liberty University, has <a href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2015/07/10/will-alabama-buck-marriage-ruling?utm_source=OneNewsNow&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=16781516&amp;utm_content=105486778159&amp;utm_campaign=20718">filed a brief</a> before the Alabama high court asking it to do, well, <em>something</em>. Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, argues that Alabama doesn’t have to abide by the <em>Obergefell</em> ruling because it’s <a href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2015/07/09/staver-scotus-ruling-just-their-opinion">just the opinion</a> of five justices. (Believe it or not, this man actually got a law degree from the University of Kentucky.)</p><p>Staver and the gang at the AFA are also <a href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2015/07/13/laws-still-protect-what-obergefell-took-away?utm_source=OneNewsNow&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=16781521&amp;utm_content=105486778159&amp;utm_campaign=20333">none too happy</a> with AU’s new <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/">Protect Thy Neighbor</a> project. They aren’t the only ones. Glenn Beck’s The Blaze <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07/08/are-christian-colleges-activists-next-target-following-gay-marriage-legalization/">fired a broadside</a>, and <a href="http://www.smartgirlpolitics.com/protect-thy-neighbor/">this site aimed at far-right women</a> is also distraught.</p><p>AU is keeping a close watch on developments in Alabama and elsewhere. Remember, we fought hard alongside our allies on behalf of same-sex couples in Alabama and aren’t about to let Moore and his far-right pals erect any more roadblocks to marriage equality. In short, we’ve beat them before, and if we have to we’ll do it again.</p><p>In the meantime, we’ll take the far right’s furious reaction to Protect Thy Neighbor as a sign that we’re doing something right – and we’ll keep doing it.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-blaze">The Blaze</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/protect-thy-neighbor">Protect Thy Neighbor</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jeannette-knoll">Jeannette Knoll</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louisiana">louisiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span></div></div>Tue, 14 Jul 2015 14:43:22 +0000Rob Boston11269 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-zealots-strike-back-latest-religious-right-sputtering-over-marriage#commentsFounded On Faith?https://au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It was June 28, 1787, and the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had reached an impasse. At a critical moment in which it seemed the convention was nearing dissolution, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin made an impassioned plea for all present to join together in prayer as a means of easing the mounting tension.</p><p>“[T]he longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth – that God governs in the Affairs of Men,” Franklin said. “I also believe [that] without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.” </p><p>Thanks to Franklin the delegates prayed, which helped them work through their differences and eventually create the U.S. Constitution.</p><p>It’s a heartwarming story to many Americans. But it’s just that – a story. Or, more accurately, it’s a fairy tale. In truth, Franklin did make the appeal, but his motion failed and there were no official prayers during the convention. The delegates managed to write the Constitution without assistance from a higher power.</p><p>Myths such as this one persist, courtesy of the likes of pseudo-historian David Barton and GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, because the Religious Right cannot accept that the Founding Fathers were not predominantly fundamentalist Christians who intended America to be an officially “Christian nation.” So in the total absence of supporting evidence for their claims, revisionists like Barton invented “Christian nation” stories to fuel their assertion that the modern United States has strayed from its founding principles and all of the nation’s ills could be cured if Americans simply returned to the ideals espoused by the founders – including a reliance on fundamentalist Christianity.</p><p>What exactly does the Religious Right mean when it says America was founded as an officially “Christian nation”? To one of the chief peddlers of this myth, the Texas-based Barton, who is not a historian and whose only degree is in Christian education, it means the Founding Fathers constructed a government and society that was “shaped and molded” by Christian principles.</p><p>“[The Founders] did want a state religion,” Barton opined during a 2011 interview with Glenn Beck. “That’s why nine out of the 13 colonies had state religions….[And] for 350 years America was described as a Christian nation, and there was a definition that went with it. We have neglected that definition, particularly in the last 15 years; we’ve allowed the left to redefine it to something it never was. But if you say we’re not a Christian nation, you have to throw out 300 court cases that say we are. You have to throw out several hundred laws that say we’re a Christian nation.”</p><p>Although Barton failed to cite any specific laws or court cases as evidence for his claims, he very likely had the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1892 <em>Holy Trinity Church v. United States</em> decision in mind. In that case, the high court unanimously said a New York City church should not have been fined $1,000 for violating an immigration law when it hired a new rector from Britain.</p><p>The court’s reasoning was that Congress only intended for the law to apply to manual laborers, not professional jobs like clergy. So what does this have to do with “Christian nation” mythology? As then-Americans United Legal Director Steven K. Green explained in a 1989 article for <em>Church &amp; State</em>, one Supreme Court justice added a second rationale for the <em>Holy Trinity</em> verdict. Justice David Brewer pontificated that Congress would never seek to punish a church because the United States is a Christian nation, founded by true believers who created laws that both honor and protect Christianity.</p><p>Green said these comments by Brewer are often misunderstood.</p><p>“Brewer’s declaration of America’s Christian nationhood is an example of ‘dictum,’” Green wrote. “In legal terms, dictum means that portion of a court’s opinion that has no bearing on the decision. It simply represents a judge’s personal feelings on a particular matter….”</p><p>Green added that Brewer’s claim is inconsistent with later Supreme Court rulings and was rarely cited favorably in future cases. “Consequently, <em>Holy Trinity</em> is an anomaly; it stands alone in the constitutional landscape,” Green said. </p><p>The idea that America is a “Christian nation” did not, however, originate with Brewer. In <em>Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding</em>, which is due out this month, Green, now a law professor at Willamette College School of Law in Salem, Oregon, argued that the “Christian nation” myth springs from the 1820s – a time of growing religious piety when a generation that followed the Founding Fathers began to search for a foundational myth that would link the fledgling nation with God in a meaningful way. (For more on Green’s book, see “The Invention of a ‘Christian America,” page 9.)</p><p>This activity culminated during the U.S. Civil War when a group known as the National Reform Association tried unsuccessfully to alter the pre­amble of the Constitution to include several references to Christianity and Jesus Christ. One post-war iteration of the proposed language stated: “We, the people of the United States recognizing the being and attributes of Almighty God, the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures, the law of God as the paramount rule, and Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord of all, in order to form a more perfect union….”</p><p>Other historians have focused on the more recent escalation of the “Christian nation” tall tale. Princeton University history professor Kevin M. Kruse wrote in his new book, <em>One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America</em>, that the modern iteration of the “Christian nation” idea took off in the early 1930s when a band of business leaders endorsed the concept as a way of fighting back against President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.</p><p>“Capitalism and Christianity had been mixed by Americans before the New Deal, to be sure,” Kruse said in a recent interview with <em>Salon</em>. “These previous fusions of faith and free enterprise had always stressed their common <em>social </em>characteristics, but starting in the 1930s Christianity and capitalism were fused in a more political context.”</p><p>Initially, Kruse argued, business leaders who opposed the New Deal were in a bind. They wanted to stave off government attempts at economic regulation, but they had almost no credibility in the eyes of the public because average Americans blamed them for causing the Great Depression. So they needed outsiders who could repair their image, and the solution to their predicament turned out to be clergy. The legacy of this alliance between business and religion can be seen today, Kruse said, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in <em>Burwell v.</em> <em>Hobby Lobby Stores</em>.</p><p>“In 2014, the Supreme Court issued its controversial <em>Hobby Lob­by</em> decision, ruling that a corporation could be exempt from the contraception mandates of the Affordable Care Act,” Kruse told <em>Salon</em>. “So we’re currently witnessing a resurgence of that ideology in American law with the idea that corporations not only are capable of having religious beliefs, but that such beliefs make these businesses exempt from the laws of the regulatory state.” (See a review of Kruse’s book on page 20.) </p><p>While the exact origin of the “Chris­tian nation” story may be up for debate, one thing remains clear: The Religious Right’s claims about the Founding Fathers are blatantly false. On at least one occasion, the U.S. government made it clear that it has no official tie to religion. The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, which was signed by President John Adams – who also signed the Declaration of Independence – states bluntly, “As the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion….”</p><p>The writings of many of the founders also support the idea expressed in the Treaty of Tripoli. Perhaps the most significant Founding Father, at least in terms of the Constitution, was James Madison – and he made it clear where he stood on church-state separation.</p><p>Madison, widely considered the father of the First Amendment, in an 1819 letter reflected on the development of church-state separation in Virginia, writing, “The civil Government, though bereft of everything like an associated hierarchy, possesses the requisite stability, and performs its functions with complete success, whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people, have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the State.”</p><p>Over the years, even members of the clergy have debunked the Religious Right’s “Christian nation” arguments. One of them, Gregory A. Boyd, senior pastor at the evangelical Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., wrote a book in 2006 titled <em>The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church</em>. In it, Boyd rejects “Christian nation” mythology on a theological basis.</p><p>“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” Boyd told <em>The New York Times</em> in 2006. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.”</p><p>Added Boyd, “I am sorry to tell you that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”</p><p> But don’t tell any of that to Barton, who has some pretty odd “evidence” to back up his notions about early America, including a bizarre theory that America’s constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion somehow proves it is a Christian country. </p><p>“And the belief was, hey, you come to a Christian nation, we’re going to tell you what our belief is and you get to make your choice, but we’ll not force you into any belief…,” Barton said during the interview with Beck. “That’s what the courts pointed to as one of the chief characteristics that we were, indeed, a Christian nation because other types of nations do not give you that choice….”</p><p>In other instances, Barton plays fast and loose with facts. In a now discredited book, <em>The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson</em>, Barton claimed that Jefferson was a devout, orthodox Christian. Scholars strongly disagree with this claim, and even Barton was unable to account for Jefferson’s extensive writings in which he expressed his disbelief in core Christian doctrines like the virgin birth, the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity and the resurrection. Barton’s explanation? Late in life, Jefferson fell under the sway of preachers in central Virginia who held unorthodox views.</p><p>The problem with Barton’s myth­ology is it emboldens fundamentalists who wish to force their dogma on others. A recent example concerns Pastor Randy Pfaff of Cowboy Church at the Crossroads in Colorado, who has been accused preaching to students at Florence High School.</p><p>Among the accusations in a lawsuit: Pfaff hosts Christian prayer at the school in a room explicitly allocated to him, and the prayer sessions occur during lunch periods, a custom students nicknamed “Jesus Pizza” due to the program’s sectarian nature and the fact that Pfaff serves pizzas to students. In response to the allegations Pfaff was dismissive, citing bogus history as justification for his actions.</p><p>“I don’t believe the Constitution was meant to keep God out of the schools,” Pfaff told the <em>Denver Post</em>. “That’s absolutely absurd. This nation was founded on Christianity.”</p><p>It is likely that Religious Right myths about the founding of America will persist for quite some time, at least partly in response to mounting evidence that the United States is becoming less Christian. As reported in May, the Pew Research Center’s latest Religious Landscape Study found that roughly 56 million Americans now identify as agnostic, atheist or “nothing in particular.” That’s more than 22 percent of the population, and represents a jump of almost 7 percent from Pew’s last survey.</p><p>And while the “nones” recently gained in number, Christianity has mostly seen a decline in the United States over the same period. The faith still comprises 70 percent of the population, but mainline traditions – including the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – are down sharply. According to Pew, these churches lost anywhere from 3 million to 7.3 million members from 2007-2014.</p><p>Thus the “Christian nation” myth­ology lives on, even among some who seek the highest elected office in the United States. In a 2014 column for <em>The</em> <em>Washington Times</em>, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a rising Religious Right star who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, told his own, mostly inaccurate, version of Frank­lin’s supposed saving of the Constitutional Convention through prayer.</p><p>“At [Franklin’s] suggestion, they knelt and prayed, and then went on to put together a 16-page document known as the Constitution of United States, which is one of the most admired documents in history,” Carson wrote. “From that point forward, congressional sessions were started with prayer.”</p><p>The philosopher George Santayana famously observed in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Barton, Carson and their Religious Right allies have put their own spin on this: Those who do not like the past are encouraged to rewrite it. </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian&nbsp;Nation’</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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The <span class="cs-month field">July/August</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith">Founded On Faith?</a></h3>
<h4>As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian Nation’</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america">The Invention Of A Christian America</a></h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-muslim-in">Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Muslim In Headscarf Case </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/with-au-s-help-nj-woman-s-lawsuit-over">With AU’s Help, N.J. Woman’s Lawsuit Over License Plate Advances</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/au-wins-another-round-in-legal-battle-with">AU Wins Another Round In Legal Battle With Notre Dame Over Birth Control Access </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/voters-in-ireland-rebuff-church-with-vote-in">Voters In Ireland Rebuff Church With Vote In Favor Of Marriage Equality</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/mo-church-can-t-demand-to-take-part-in-state">Mo. Church Can’t Demand To Take Part In State Aid Program, Court Says</a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-7 views-row-odd">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/montana-school-cancels-field-trip-to">Montana School Cancels Field Trip To Creationist Ministry After AU Complaint </a></span> </div></li>
<li class="views-row views-row-8 views-row-even views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/colo-teacher-says-religious-activity-is">Colo. Teacher Says Religious Activity Is Rampant In Public School District</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-books--ideas"> <h3>Books &amp; Ideas</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/books-ideas/one-nation-under-god">One Nation Under God:</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-perspective"> <h3>Perspective</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/perspective/a-scottish-ramble-in-europe-anti-lgbt-animus">A Scottish Ramble: In Europe, Anti-LGBT Animus Gives Up The Ghost</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
<ul class="cs-department-list"> <li class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last">
<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim">The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-barton">David Barton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11220 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith#commentsJudge Not?: Wisc. Governor Says He’s Not Sure President Obama Is A Christian https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/judge-not-wisc-governor-says-he-s-not-sure-president-obama-is-a-christian
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">As far as the Religious Right is concerned, Obama’s problem has never been that he isn’t Christian. The issue for them is that he isn’t the “right kind” of Christian. You know, the sort that thinks America should be a theocracy.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker explores the possibility of running for president in 2016, he’s facing a lot of uncomfortable questions from reporters and others. His solution so far is to try to avoid them, but he’s quickly learning it’s not that simple.</p><p>First, Walker decided “to punt” on a question earlier this month about <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/wishy-washy-walker-wisc-governor-refuses-to-answer-question-on-evolution">where he stands on evolution</a>. Then last week, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/walker-says-he-is-unaware-whether-obama-is-a-christian/2015/02/21/6fde0bd0-ba17-11e4-bc30-a4e75503948a_story.html">he clumsily evaded an inquiry</a> about President Barack Obama’s faith – and ended up fanning the flames of the long-discredited Religious Right lie that Obama isn’t Christian.</p><p>“I don’t know [if Obama is Christian],” Walker said during an interview at a meeting of the National Governors Association last week. “I’ve actually never talked about it or I haven’t read about that. I’ve never asked him that. You’ve asked me to make statements about people that I haven’t had a conversation with about that.”</p><p>Walker said he wouldn’t answer the question because Obama’s faith doesn’t matter to most people.</p><p>“You could ask 100 people [in Wisconsin], and not one of them would say that this is a significant issue,” he said.</p><p>It’s an issue because the far right’s kook caucus has spent the past seven years screaming that Obama is really a Muslim. The reporter wanted to know if Walker agreed. The question was really a softball, and Walker botched it.</p><p>Anyone who has been paying attention since Obama became a national figure knows he’s a Christian. Obama has been perfectly clear about his faith. <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thedudeabides/obama-on-faith-the-exclusive-interview/">In a 2004 interview</a> with then-Chicago <em>Sun Times </em>reporter Cathleen Falsani, Obama said, “I am a Christian. So, I have a deep faith. So I draw from the Christian faith.”</p><p>Obama also discussed his relationship with Jesus, remarking, “Jesus is an historical figure for me, and he’s also a bridge between God and man, in the Christian faith, and one that I think is powerful precisely because he serves as that means of us reaching something higher. And he’s also a wonderful teacher. I think it’s important for all of us, of whatever faith, to have teachers in the flesh and also teachers in history.”</p><p>Obama went on to say that while he has been influenced by Judaism as well as Islam, ultimately he always comes back to Christianity as his spiritual base.</p><p>“So, I’m rooted in the Christian tradition,” Obama said. “I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.”</p><p>Walker’s answer failed to please anyone. To sensible people, it looked like a smear. For the tin-foil hat brigades of the right, Walker didn’t go far enough. In a column for Glenn Beck’s website, The Blaze, <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/scott-walker-was-too-nice-its-incredibly-obvious-that-barack-obama-isnt-a-christian/">blogger Matt Walsh said Walker was “too nice”</a> because “it’s incredibly obvious that Barack Obama isn’t a Christian.”</p><p>In a desperate attempt at damage control, Walker spokeswoman Jocelyn Webster later called <em>The Washington Post</em> and tried to claim that Walker wasn’t actually questioning Obama’s faith.</p><p>“Of course the governor thinks the president is a Christian,” Webster said. “He thinks these kinds of gotcha questions distract from what he’s doing as governor of Wisconsin to make the state better and make life better for people in his state.”</p><p>As far as the Religious Right is concerned, Obama’s problem has never been that he isn’t Christian. The issue for them is that he isn’t the “right kind” of Christian. You know, the sort that thinks America should be a theocracy.</p><p>We don’t know if Walker is an aspiring theocrat, but he is certainly fighting a losing battle by courting the Religious Right. He may think he needs them to win the White House next year, and he could be right. But as this incident shows, fundamentalists are very hard to please.</p><p>It’s true that Obama’s faith is irrelevant at this point, but Walker’s attempt to handle what was a fairly simple question was a total failure. Even a novice political consultant knows how to answer this kind of question: “Of course the president is a Christian. But I’d really like to talk about [fill in the blank].” Instead, Walker appeared to be sympathetic to a conspiracy theory. (What’s next – he demands to see Obama’s birth certificate?)</p><p>If this is what Americans can expect from Walker going forward, everyone should prepare to be underwhelmed. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-churches-and-politics">Other Issues regarding Churches and Politics</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/scott-walker">Scott Walker</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-blaze">The Blaze</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/evolution">evolution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/presidential-race">Presidential Race</a></span></div></div>Tue, 24 Feb 2015 18:01:31 +0000Simon Brown10897 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/judge-not-wisc-governor-says-he-s-not-sure-president-obama-is-a-christian#comments(Un)Fantastic Five: A Remembrance Of Values Voter Summits Pasthttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/unfantastic-five-a-remembrance-of-values-voter-summits-past
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">More fun than a trip to Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan! It&#039;s the Values Voter Summit! </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The Religious Right’s annual “Values Voter Summit” (VVS) takes place this weekend. Americans United staffers Simon Brown, Sarah Jones and I will be there. (Barry Lynn usually pops in too, in case anyone wants to take a selfie with him.)</p><p>If you are a religious person, please pray for us. If you’re not religious, please forward some recommendations for stress-relief strategies – favorite liquors, ice-cream brands, yoga positions, etc. – as I suspect we’ll all need some way to unwind when this thing is over.</p><p>The Summit is sponsored primarily by the Family Research Council along with the American Family Association, Liberty Counsel and others. I’ve been to a lot of these meetings over the years. Today I’d like to share with you five of my favorite (and by “favorite” I actually mean “most offensive”) speakers from Summits past – with a little information about what makes them so special.</p><p><strong>Herman Cain: </strong>Does anyone remember Herman Cain? Do the phrases “<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/herman-cains-misleading-pitch-for-the-999-plan/2011/10/12/gIQAHszPgL_blog.html">9-9-9</a>” and “<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/10/09/339879/cain-uzbekistan-beki-beki-stan-stan/">Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan</a>” ring a bell? Cain, you might recall, is a former pizza magnate who inexplicably became the Republican Party’s presidential front-runner for a brief period in 2011. He appeared at the Summit the same year, and I have to say, he wowed the crowd.</p><p>Unfortunately, it was all style, no substance. Cain’s platform consisted of a string of simplistic ideas passed off as homespun wisdom. Virtually no one who looked at his proposals seriously believed they could work. But he presented well, and his speech at VVS was an effective mix of fiery denunciations of President Barack Obama, humor and hubris. At one point he told the crowd, “My challenge to you is stay informed because we are up against a lot of stupid people in America.” (You don’t say!)</p><p>Cain had a lot of promise. No one, other than Cain himself, actually believed he was going to be president, but he could have worked the Religious Right’s speaking circuit for years propelled by his incredible bombast. Alas, not long after that speech, he started having trouser-related problems and was soon out of the race. Although he still works the Tea Party crowd, Cain hasn’t been back to the Summit since.</p><p><strong>Newt Gingrich:</strong> Smug and arrogant, the thrice-married serial adulterer Newt Gingrich is a VVS institution, even though he’s really just a walking sack of <em>chutzpah</em> on legs. Given his own checkered past when it comes to respecting the bonds of marriage, you would think Gingrich would refrain from accusing gays of trying to undermine that institution. But you would be wrong. He does it all of the time.</p><p>Gingrich is often lauded as a right-wing intellectual; I’ve never understood why. His grasp on American history and the text of the Constitution he claims to revere have always been tenuous at best. He seems to labor under the delusion that the United States was founded to be a religious state, and the last time I heard him speak he went on and on about his plan, if elected president, to remove federal judges who dare hand down rulings affirming the separation of church and state. He seemed untroubled by the fact that nothing in the Constitution gives the president the power to do that.</p><p>Gingrich’s own ethical lapses, of course, are <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/12/gingrich-congressional-ethics-scandal-explained-newt-inc">well known</a>. That doesn’t stop him from judging everyone else.</p><p><strong>Star Parker:</strong> I’ve had the misfortune to hear Star Parker speak perhaps a dozen times. Prior to her appearances at the Summit, she was a regular fixture at the Christian Coalition’s “Road to Victory” events during the 1990s.</p><p>Parker’s claim to fame – and it’s a very old, tired story – is that she says she was once a drug addict and welfare mother who lived in a taxpayer-subsidized luxury apartment with a swimming pool, fireplace and sunken living room in California. (Jesus delivered her from all that.) As far as I know, no one has ever bothered to check her implausible story.</p><p>Parker doesn’t so much speak as she does scream. She’s frequently incoherent and usually delivers a stream-of-consciousness rant that careens from one Bible verse to another. Also, she <em>really</em> does not like liberals, gay people or atheists.</p><p><strong>Bryan Fischer: </strong>The American Family Association’s resident extremism czar, Fischer first came to my attention some years ago after he wrote a column suggesting that a killer whale at SeaWorld that had killed a trainer should be executed. You see, that’s what the Bible calls for. (You might have seen <a href="http://blackfishmovie.com/">this documentary</a>, which explores the issue with considerably more nuance.)</p><p>Since then, Fischer has unleashed a <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/values-void-religious-right-group-says-southern-poverty-law-center-is-agent">string of gems</a>: implying that women’s suffrage was a mistake, asserting that states can ban Islam, demanding religious tests in the military, opining that the lack of mandatory prayer in public schools led to the Newtown, Conn., school shootings and so on.</p><p>Fischer’s actually not a very compelling speaker. His main attraction is that you never know what he’s going to say next – but you can be sure that it will be pretty insane. At the 2009 VVS, he informed the crowd that Adolf Hitler had invented the separation of church and state.</p><p><strong>Glenn Beck: </strong>Listening to Glenn Beck speak is like watching an avant-garde movie. You might not know what’s going on most of the time, but it’s just strange enough that you keep looking.</p><p>Beck’s delivery is so dramatic and staged that it’s often easy to overlook the fact that what he’s saying makes no sense. The last time I heard him speak, I was uncertain if I had just heard the ramblings of a madman or a brilliant piece of performance art. He’s a lot like Howard Beale from “Network.” He goes on and on, and you keep waiting for him to tell you to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE">stick your head out the window</a>. But in the end, he’s crying and you feel like it too.</p><p>I’m still not convinced that Beck actually believes the things he says – can an entire belief system rest on word salad? – but there’s no denying that it does pay the bills.</p><p align="center">* * *</p><p>I’m not sure that this year’s event can top any of that, but we’re about to find out.</p><p>Although I poke fun, don’t get the wrong idea. These people are scary. There is one thing you can’t deny about the Values Voter Summit: They put it all right out there. Summiteers have a vision for America. It’s a nightmarish theocracy where LGBT Americans, non-Christians, progressive and moderate Christians, women, non-believers and others would find their rights curtailed, if not gone entirely.</p><p>Every year, the forces of retrogression and oppression spend two days plotting to knock down the church-state wall and raise the banner for their vision of a “godly” society based on “Christian” values. They outline their plan and vow to bring it about. Onward go the Christian soldiers.</p><p>We can’t say we weren’t warned.</p><p>P.S. Be sure to visit “The Wall of Separation” on Monday. Simon will have some thoughts on this year’s Summit. For more on what this event is like, <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/november-2011-church-state/featured/bombast-bigotry-and-the-bible">here is a personal reflection</a> I wrote about the 2011 confab.</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/values-voter-summit">Values Voter Summit</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/newt-gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/star-parker">Star Parker</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bryan-fischer">Bryan Fischer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/herman-cain">Herman Cain</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/howard-beale">Howard Beale</a></span></div></div>Fri, 26 Sep 2014 15:08:43 +0000Rob Boston10530 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/unfantastic-five-a-remembrance-of-values-voter-summits-past#commentsFall From Grace: What The Religious Right Should Learn From The McDonnell Scandalhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fall-from-grace-what-the-religious-right-should-learn-from-the-mcdonnell
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Travel back with me to 2009: Robert McDonnell was campaigning for Virginia governor, and TV preacher Pat Robertson was ecstatic.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Leaders of Religious Right groups are fond of telling us that if we elect more fundamentalist Christians to office, we’ll have less corruption. Biblical literalists must be more ethical, right?</p><p>That claim is looking a little thin in light of recent events in Virginia. Yesterday, Robert F. McDonnell, the state’s former governor, was <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcdonnell-jury-in-third-day-of-deliberations/2014/09/04/0e01ff88-3435-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html?tid=pm_pop">found guilty</a> on 11 counts related to public corruption, conspiracy and bribery. His wife, Maureen, whom this "family values" politican tried willingly to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-robert-mcdonnell-throws-his-wife-under-the-bus-at-trial/2014/08/21/664c5ebe-2971-11e4-958c-268a320a60ce_story.html">throw under the bus</a>, was found guilty on nine charges.</p><p>The McDonnells were accused of essentially selling influence in exchange for gifts, lavish vacations and sweetheart loans of $120,000 from a wealthy businessman named Jonnie R. Williams Sr. McDonnell is the first Virginia governor to be charged with a crime and the first convicted of one.</p><p>It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Travel back with me to 2009. McDonnell was campaigning for the governor’s mansion, and TV preacher Pat Robertson was ecstatic.</p><p>You see, McDonnell had attended Robertson’s Regent University. In fact, a master’s thesis he wrote while there briefly <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/october-2009-church-state/people-events/regent-university-thesis-becomes-hot-issue-in">became a campaign issue</a>. Robertson was excited to think that one of his own would soon lead the Old Dominion.</p><p>McDonnell won the race easily and soon set out to establish <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/virginia-reels-religious-right-gov-dances-to-pat-robertson%E2%80%99s-tune">godly rule in Virginia</a>. Speaking at Regent, he vowed to bring “servant leadership” to the state.</p><p>“It reflects those words of Jesus, who said that the greatest among you is the servant of all, and the fact that he came not to be served, but to serve,” McDonnell said. “I think that is the model for servant leadership.”</p><p>In reality, this “servant leadership” tended to look like the same old Religious Right agenda. When state officials decided that police chaplains should use non-sectarian prayers at public events, <a href="http://hamptonroads.com/2010/04/mcdonnell-rescinds-state-police-prayer-policy-referring-jesus">McDonnell rescinded</a> the order. McDonnell’s obsession with blocking access to legal abortion earned him the nickname <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-gov-bob-mcdonnell-signs-virginia-ultrasound-bill/">“Gov. Ultrasound.”</a> He drew up <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/adopting-bias-new-va-rules-seek-to-safeguard-%E2%80%98faith-based%E2%80%99-bigotry">new rules</a> allowing tax-funded “faith-based” adoption agencies to deny services to anyone who failed to meet a strict theological litmus test. He signed a law mandating that public colleges in Virginia give funding to student groups even if they discriminate on religious grounds. McDonnell appointed a private school voucher advocate as education secretary and shifted funding for sex education from comprehensive programs to “abstinence-only” approaches that critics say are often anchored in religion.</p><p>McDonnell also pushed for a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage (which was later approved by the voters) and even appeared on Robertson’s “700 Club” to lobby for it. <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/pat-loves-bobby-robertson-mcdonnell-push-marriage-amendment">McDonnell told</a> a beaming Robertson, “From the Garden of Eden to 2006, we’ve believed that marriage is between a man and a woman. But because of some social trends out there and some court decisions, Pat, as you know, marriage is under attack.”</p><p>(Robertson, of course, is sticking by McDonnell and, as he is wont to do, has fashioned <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/no-one-spins-conspiracy-theory-tv-preacher-pat-robertson">a conspiracy theory</a> to explain it all: You see, President Barack Obama is to blame!)</p><p><a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/09/mcdonnell_17.html">McDonnell spoke</a> at the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit in 2010 and 2012. Telegenic and polished, he was seen as a Religious Right rising star. There was talk about putting him on a future Republican ticket as vice president.</p><p>All of that came crashing down when McDonnell was indicted in January.</p><p>Look, politicians and public figures can let their supporters down. It happens. But it seems to happen to the Religious Right pretty often. And usually, despite their high-handed moralizing, they don’t seem to care.</p><p>Recall how they rallied behind serial adulterer Newt Gingrich. Consider how they never said a peep when U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) admitted to consorting with prostitutes. Watch them prop up Dinesh D'Souza as he begs a federal court not to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/03/us-usa-politics-dsouza-idUSKBN0GY2EW20140903">send him to prison</a> for violating campaign-finance laws.</p><p>See them throw money at an obvious political hack like Ralph Reed whose main philosophy seems to be “the ends justify the means.” Watch them support right-wing organizations that advocate <a href="http://www.speakupmovement.org/church/LearnMore/details/4702">openly violating federal law</a> to get their people elected to office.</p><p>Listen to their leaders denounce LGBT Americans in vile language. Observe as they swoon over divisive extremists like Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Bryan Fischer, Tony Perkins, Ben Carson, Sean Hannity, ad nauseam whose primary goal is to line their pockets by setting one group of Americans against another. Go to one of their meetings and be appalled as they feed on a steady diet of hate, fear and rage.</p><p>And remember, these are the people who feel ordained by God to judge the rest of us.</p><p>Based on the politicians and leaders they’ve been backing lately, I’d say it’s time for them to take a break and do some soul searching.</p><p>I’d recommend they start by consulting their own holy book – you know, the one they’re always happy to bash us with. Specifically, they should examine the 7th chapter of the Book of Matthew and the words of Jesus: “Why do you look at the speck of dust that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?...You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/robert-mcdonnell">Robert McDonnell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/maureen-mcdonnell">Maureen McDonnell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pat-robertson">Pat Robertson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/virginia">virginia</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ralph-reed">ralph reed</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ben-carson">Ben Carson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sean-hannity">Sean Hannity</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sarah-palin">sarah palin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bryan-fischer">Bryan Fischer</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span></div></div>Fri, 05 Sep 2014 14:47:15 +0000Rob Boston10469 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/fall-from-grace-what-the-religious-right-should-learn-from-the-mcdonnell#comments‘Tis The Season To Tell Big, Honking Lies: More ‘War On Christmas’ Calumny From The Far Righthttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tis-the-season-to-tell-big-honking-lies-more-war-on-christmas-calumny-from
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">It’s business as usual for the &#039;War-on-Christmas&#039;-obsessed crowd at Fox News. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Yesterday Fox News and Glenn Beck’s website <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/03/school-administrators-reportedly-instruct-teachers-to-remove-christmas-cards-from-hallways/">“The Blaze” </a>reported that a public school in Bulloch County, Ga., had banned Christmas cards. According to the Beck site, this was done because earlier this year Americans United had demanded that the school order teachers to “curtail religious expression while teaching.”</p><p>The story was soon appearing on right-wing blogs and making a splash on social media. There was a big problem with it, however: It wasn’t true.</p><p>Americans United did write to education officials in Bulloch County back in April. That letter had nothing to do with Christmas cards. It was in response to a complaint we received concerning high school football coaches and band directors leading students in prayer at school events, which is a clear constitutional no-no.</p><p>According to the far right’s creative re-telling of the incident, school officials in Bulloch County were so terrified by Americans United that they immediately removed all religious references from the school, even things that aren’t a problem. Soon, a beloved tradition of teachers pasting the personal Christmas cards they had received on a poster in the hallway of Brooklet Elementary School was axed.</p><p>Here’s what really happened: The poster (which doesn’t even have any Christmas cards on it yet – let’s get real, it’s only Dec. 5) was moved because one of the teachers raised a privacy concern. The poster is now in a faculty work room.</p><p>Superintendent Charles Wilson <a href="http://www.wsav.com/story/24126881/moved-xmas-card-poster-at-brooklet-elem-causes-headaches">told WSAV-TV</a> that the <a href="http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/georgia-school-confiscates-christmas-cards.html">Fox News story</a>, by Fox Radio commentator Todd Starnes, has created headaches for his school system. His office has received a flood of outraged calls and emails.</p><p>Wilson pointed out that no one from Fox News actually called the school to get its side of the story.</p><p>“We are trying hard in this community to have a good, healthy dialogue,” said Wilson. He criticized “the intentional spreading of this misinformation” and added, “I see it as destructive.”</p><p>Wilson also issued a statement to set the record straight. It reads in part, “Bulloch County Schools nor BES's administrators have not, nor do they plan to remove any student’s learning experiences about Christmas or any other seasonal holiday. Students returned Monday from Thanksgiving break, and already students’ holiday artwork is going up on bulletin boards, walls and doorways.”</p><p>Teacher Becky Petkewich echoed Wilson’s concerns. “I just couldn’t believe that someone would make up some things like that,” she said.</p><p>Oh, I can. It’s business as usual for the “War-on-Christmas”-obsessed crowd at Fox News. They’re so determined to fight this conflict that every year at this time they conjure it up – even when it doesn’t exist.</p><p>It has come to the point that whenever I hear one of these tales of yuletide outrage, I just sit back and wait for the other Christmas stocking to drop. I know that sooner or later it’s likely to be exposed as a lie. The right-wing media’s <a href="https://www.au.org/content/the-truth-about-the-religious-rights-phony-war-on-christmas">track record</a> here is nothing short of abysmal.</p><p>Anyone who watches Christmas movies knows that Santa Claus can work miracles. I’ve got a whopper of a request for him: Please, St. Nick, can you get these people to just shut up so we can enjoy the holidays in peace?</p><p>Failing that, unleash <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/12/krampus-saint-nicholas-dark-companion/100639/">Krampus</a>. I think he could teach these faux Christmas warriors a thing or two.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-displays-and-holidays">Religious Displays and Holidays</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/war-christmas">war on christmas</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/fox-news">Fox News</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/todd-starnes">Todd Starnes</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bulloch-county">Bulloch County</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/becky-petkewich">Becky Petkewich</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/charles-wilson">Charles Wilson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/krampus">Krampus</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/brooklet-elementary-school">Brooklet Elementary School</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span></div></div>Thu, 05 Dec 2013 15:34:17 +0000Rob Boston9333 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/tis-the-season-to-tell-big-honking-lies-more-war-on-christmas-calumny-from#commentsOutrageous Oration: Values Voter Summit Ignores Realityhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/outrageous-oration-values-voter-summit-ignores-reality
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">“America has a Judeo-Christian heritage and when I hear people say ‘separation of church and state,’ it concerns me because we cannot be separated from our faith,” former U.S. Rep. Allen West said.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>This past weekend, a collection of Religious Right groups, including the Family Research Council (FRC), American Family Association (AFA) and Liberty Counsel, held an event in Washington, D.C., called the Values Voter Summit (VVS). It’s an annual opportunity for the forces of the Religious Right to strategize on how they can “take America back.”</p><p>Despite the bitter defeat the Religious Right suffered in the 2012 presidential election, about 3,000 attendees from around the country showed up this year. They were addressed by a handful of politicians who wanted to pander to extreme conservative voters, as well as far-right stars like Glenn Beck, who just wanted to peddle their latest books. As usual, the speeches at the conference were filled with paranoia, delusion and hate. Here are some examples: </p><p>Church-state separation didn’t come up much over the weekend, but former U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who once said that 78-81 members of the Democratic Party are communists, made sure to proclaim his fear of this principle. </p><p>“America has a Judeo-Christian heritage and when I hear people say ‘separation of church and state,’ it concerns me because we cannot be separated from our faith,” West said.</p><p>Many, many speakers spent their allotted time attacking Obamacare, describing it as anything from an assault on “religious liberty” to modern slavery.</p><p>“Obamacare is the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery,” said Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who has become a right-wing icon thanks to his anti-Obama and homophobic comments. “And in a way it is slavery because it’s making us subservient to the government.”</p><p>And speaking of homophobic comments, quite a few were expressed at the VVS. The AFA, which has been labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) because of its anti-gay rhetoric, attempted to defend itself – and managed to prove the SPLC right in the process.</p><p>“The American Family Association doesn’t hate anyone, including homosexuals,” said AFA radio host and Fox News contributor Sandy Rios. “We love them enough to tell them about the moral, physical and spiritual dangers of homosexuality.”</p><p>And what would a Values Voter Summit be without a huge dollop of paranoia? U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) had that covered.</p><p>“These are extraordinary times… we can’t keep going down this road,” Cruz said. “We’re nearing the edge of a cliff. We have a couple years to turn this country around before we go off the cliff to oblivion.”</p><p>This is just a sampling of some of the wild and hateful claims made this weekend at the Values Voter Summit. For a full report on the VVS, check out the forthcoming November issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sen-ted-cruz">Sen. Ted Cruz</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rep-allen-west">Rep. Allen West</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/dr-ben-carson">Dr. Ben Carson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/values-voter-summit">Values Voter Summit</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sandy-rios">Sandy Rios</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-family-association">American Family Association</a></span></div></div>Mon, 14 Oct 2013 17:53:10 +0000Simon Brown9052 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/outrageous-oration-values-voter-summit-ignores-reality#commentsHe’s Baaaaaaack!: Disgraced ‘Christian Nation’ Advocate David Barton Sought By Politicians Looking To Court Religious Right https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/he-s-baaaaaaack-disgraced-christian-nation-advocate-david-barton-sought-by
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">No matter how many actual historians or scholars debunk Barton and no matter how often it happens, he is beyond reproach in his own head.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Texas-based “historian” and “Christian nation” advocate David Barton seems to have some kind of superpower – no matter how many times he is disgraced or proven wrong, he somehow bounces back. Now, <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/very-old-barton-christian-nation-propagandist-channels-louis-l-amour-s">despite a string of embarrassments</a>, he seems to be <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/david-barton-historian-right-christian-96443.html">forging a career as an informal advisor</a> to top Republicans seeking to court the Religious Right.</p><p>When asked recently by <em>Politico</em> what sort of advisory role he might play for potential GOP presidential candidates who want to suck up to the Religious Right, Barton said: “I remain available to whoever wants to move that ball down the court.”</p><p>As evidence of his influence, the article noted that Barton joined in a prayer huddle at an Iowa event this summer with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is widely considered to be a top candidate for the presidential election in 2016.</p><p>This is pretty amazing, really. Just last spring, Barton seemed to suffer a serious reputational blow when his book <em>The Jefferson Lies</em>, which absurdly argued that Thomas Jefferson was really a conservative Christian, <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-barton-lies-conservative-christian-scholars-debunk-christian-nation">was shown to be complete bunk</a> by a group of conservative Christian scholars. So devastating was the critique that Christian publishing house Thomas Nelson stopped publication.</p><p>But Barton has never been one to listen to critics, and neither have his most ardent fans; it seems his base never deserted him.</p><p>“It has been shocking how much resistance there is to critically examining what Barton says,” Scott Culpepper, a history professor at Dordt College in Iowa who has criticized Barton’s work, told <em>Poltico.</em> “I really underestimated the power of the political element in evangelicalism.”</p><p>In fact, Glenn Beck’s publishing company, Mercury Ink, has said it plans to republish <em>The Jefferson Lies</em>, though a spokesman for that company would provide no further details to <em>Politico</em>.</p><p>Cruz certainly has a high opinion of Barton despite his obvious failings, and seems to buy into his bogus “Christian nation” theories.</p><p>“I’m not in a position to opine on academic disputes between historians, but I can tell you that David Barton is a good man, a courageous leader and a friend,” the Texas senator said. “David’s historical research has helped millions rediscover the founding principles of our nation and the incredible sacrifices that men and women of faith made to bequeath to us the freest and most prosperous nation in the world.”</p><p>Bolstered by that sort of endorsement, <em>Politico</em> said Barton will be on tour throughout this fall, speaking in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. He also still leads his “signature” tours of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., in which he attempts to explain the supposed Christian roots of the United States.</p><p>Barton got into a bit of trouble with these tours recently, when it came to light that some videos of his “famous” tour were quietly edited to correct his mistakes. Back in 2007, Barton headlined a tour of the U.S. Capitol on behalf of the Family Research Council (FRC), a Religious Right advocacy group. FRC made a video of that tour, in which Barton <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/barton-backs-down-christian-nation-advocate-corrects-some-of-his-bogus">made numerous false and misleading claims</a> about the Founding Fathers and the supposed “Christian origins” of the United States.</p><p>So outrageous were some of Barton’s claims, that 34 Christian historians and social scientists asked FRC to pull the video from YouTube, said Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College, a conservative Christian institution in Pennsylvania.</p><p>FRC Vice President Kenyn Cureton admitted to <em>Politico</em> that the video was removed because of “a few historical inaccuracies,” but the organization still has close ties to Barton.</p><p>A similar incident apparently occurred with Focus on the Family, which <em>Politico</em> said edited two Barton videos featured on its website. A segment in which Barton claims Congress printed the first English-language Bible in America, and intended it to be used in schools, was deleted.</p><p>Carrie Gordon Earll, a senior director of public policy at Focus on the Family, told <em>Politico</em> she could not comment on the edits except to say that Focus on the Family “has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with David Barton” and respects his “broad base of knowledge.”</p><p>As a result of these incidents, Throckmorton <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2013/09/politico-david-bartons-political-usefulness-trumps-scholarship-for-evangelical-groups/">said on his blog today</a> that he doesn’t believe Barton’s reputation is as strong as <em>Politico</em> makes it appear.</p><p>Sadly that might not matter. Barton claims that his comments are sometimes taken out of context and defended his work as being impeccable.</p><p>That’s the problem with Barton – in his mind, he’s never wrong. No matter how many actual historians or scholars debunk him and no matter how often it happens, Barton is beyond reproach in his own head.</p><p>Compounding this problem is Barton’s fans, who aren’t really interested in history or the truth. They just want someone to tell them that America really is a “Christian nation,” and that’s exactly what Barton does. As long as there are people out there who want to buy what Barton sells, he’s going to remain in business.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ted-cruz">Ted Cruz</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-barton">David Barton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/warren-throckmorton">Warren Throckmorton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-jefferson-lies">The Jefferson Lies</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span></div></div>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:07:41 +0000Simon Brown8948 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/he-s-baaaaaaack-disgraced-christian-nation-advocate-david-barton-sought-by#commentsConference Conundrum: Family Research Council VP Abandons Speaking Engagement After Host’s Neo-Confederate Ties Are Revealed https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/conference-conundrum-family-research-council-vp-abandons-speaking
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">There are two lessons here for Gen. Boykin. First, it’s best not to trust Glenn Beck (that probably goes without saying). Second, do a little research before you agree to speak at a conference. I hear the Google is a great tool.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>For the average Religious Right leader, getting into bed with Glenn Beck is usually a pretty good career move. After all, Beck’s empire still brings in boatloads of cash despite his expulsion from Fox News. The problem is Beck himself isn’t exactly picky about his partners, and that can lead to serious embarrassment – as Family Research Council Executive Vice President William G. “Jerry” Boykin recently discovered.</p><p>Boykin, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/december-2004-church-state/au-bulletin/gen-boykinrsquos-religious-crusade-draws?__utma=1.791044345.1360361050.1376495106.1376578651.250&amp;__utmb=1.4.10.1376578651&amp;__utmc=1&amp;__utmx=-&amp;__utmz=1.1375453103.234.3.utmcsr=facebook.com|utmccn=%28referral%29|utmcmd=referral|utmcct=/l.php&amp;__utmv=-&amp;__utmk=9075765">best known for his extreme dislike of Muslims</a>, was supposed to speak at the Beck-backed “Founding Faith Conference,” <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/08/09/frc_drops_conference_over_neo_confederate_ties/">a gathering set to take place in Texas September 20-21</a>.</p><p>The conference website can’t even be accessed without a password now (nothing suspicious there!), but <em>Salon</em>’s Alex Seitz-Wald reported that the confab intends to “train fellow citizens in the Founder’s view of Law and Government and be equipped to give them a working knowledge of our Founding Documents.” The conference’s website also noted at one point that Boykin would participate in a VIP dinner, photo op and panel discussion, Seitz-Wald said.</p><p>In a radio ad for the gathering, Beck even asked listeners to “join my good friend General Jerry Boykin” at the conference, telling people to “Sign up today for the Founding Faith Conference and learn how to boldly defend your conservative principles in any situation.”</p><p>But here’s the thing about the “Founding Faith Conference:” It’s not your average gathering of right-wing ideologues. In fact, it’s associated with a pro-Confederate group.</p><p>Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said on his blog that the “Founding Faith Conference” is sponsored by the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC), which was founded and is directed by Michael Peroutka, the 2004 presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. The Institute leans heavily on material produced by “Christian nation” advocates John Eidsmoe and David Barton.</p><p>Worse yet, <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2013/08/lt-general-jerry-boykin-backs-out-of-conference-sponsored-by-institute-on-the-constutution/">Throckmorton noted that the IOTC has ties to the League of the South</a>, a radical outfit that seeks to preserve the “Anglo-Celtic culture” of the South. The League, which can’t seem to accept that the Civil War ended in 1865, is actually working toward secession. It has even been labeled a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.</p><p>So it seems that when word of the truth behind this conference got out last week, thanks to the efforts of Throckmorton and others, Boykin bailed.</p><p>Margaret Andrews, who works for the group that organized the conference, told Salon that she respects Boykin’s decision and that she had no idea of the IOTC’s association with the League of the South. She also told <em>Salon</em> that Beck has no role at the conference and is just a paid promoter.</p><p>“I cannot speak with any authority of the relationship between the League of The South and the Institute on The Constitution, which was recently brought to my attention,” Andrews said. “However, as you can see from the event web site, the conference will still be featuring many diverse presenters who will be speaking on a variety of different civil rights and constitutional issues of our day.”</p><p>There are two lessons here for Gen. Boykin. First, it’s best not to trust Glenn Beck (that probably goes without saying). Second, do a little research before you agree to speak at a conference. I hear the Google is a great tool.</p><p>Of course, one has to wonder what Boykin knew about the IOTC and the League of the South beforehand and whether or not he had any issues with their radical agendas. Given some of his extreme statements in the past, it’s very possible Boykin had no qualms with these groups and backed out only because of the public scrutiny. We’ll never know, but it makes you wonder.</p><p>This whole situation was an embarrassment for Boykin and the FRC. Here’s hoping he has learned his lesson.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lt-gen-william-g">Lt. Gen. William G.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/institute-on-the-constitution">Institute on the Constitution</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/league-of-the-south">League of the South</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/warren-throckmorton">Warren Throckmorton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alex-seitz-wald">Alex Seitz-Wald</a></span></div></div>Thu, 15 Aug 2013 16:46:32 +0000Simon Brown8865 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/conference-conundrum-family-research-council-vp-abandons-speaking#commentsBarton’s Bad Season: ‘Christian Nation’ Advocate Continues To Sinkhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/barton-s-bad-season-christian-nation-advocate-continues-to-sink
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Some political leaders are finally questioning the wisdom of being tied to &#039;Christian nation&#039; advocate David Barton. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>You could say that this has been the winter of David Barton’s discontent.</p><p>Barton, a Texas-based pseudo-historian who for years has made a living telling gullible Religious Right audiences that the United States was founded to be a Christian nation and church-state separation is a myth, has run into quite a streak of trouble lately.</p><p>Barton’s problems began when a band of conservative Christian scholars, led by Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-barton-lies-conservative-christian-scholars-debunk-christian-nation">dissected his book</a> <em>The Jefferson Lies</em> and exposed the many errors therein. The book’s publisher, Thomas Nelson (the nation’s largest Christian publisher), pulled the tome.</p><p>More recently, Chris Rodda, director of research for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and a longtime thorn in Barton’s side, <a href="http://freethoughtblogs.com/rodda/2013/02/25/barton-admits-getting-gun-toting-students-story-from-louis-lamour-but-its-ok-because-lamour-said-it-really-happened/">produced research</a> indicating that a Barton claim about armed schoolchildren during the Wild West period <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/very-old-barton-christian-nation-propagandist-channels-louis-l-amour-s">defending their teacher</a> from a killer was in fact taken from a novel by Western writer Louie L’Amour.</p><p>Barton originally told the story to Glenn Beck. He still insists that it might be true and claims L’Amour said it was. But as Throckmorton points out, that’s not how history is done.</p><p> “If there really is a basis in fact here,” <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2013/02/david-barton-kids-guns-and-historical-fiction/">wrote Throckmorton</a>, “it is a fair question to ask: how much more did the story change from the original source to L’Amour’s book? L’Amour doesn’t claim to be an historian and doesn’t say what details were based on the account he used or what he added to make an entertaining novel. Clearly the reason one does not do history this way is because the narrative can change dramatically from the first telling to the last.”</p><p>Rodda also took aim at another Barton claim about guns: that during the founding period, there were rarely gun-related accidents. Barton claims he could find only two. Rodda consulted an archive of historical newspapers and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/david-barton-claims-that-_b_2674891.html">tracked down numerous accounts</a> of people being maimed and killed due to gun accidents during this era.(Just to be clear: Americans United doesn’t take a stand on gun control. The point here is to underscore how sloppy Barton’s research is.)</p><p>Will any of this make a difference? Well, thoughtful evangelicals <a href="http://wthrockmorton.com/2013/02/worlds-david-barton-coverage-what-will-evangelicals-do/">have been challenged</a> to look anew at Barton’s influence, and some of them are doing that. Some of the hardest-hitting material about Barton has appeared in <em>World</em> magazine, a conservative Christian publication that Americans United rarely finds itself in accord with.</p><p>More satisfyingly, it appears that some political leaders are finally questioning the wisdom of being tied to Barton. Over the years, I’ve been amazed at Barton’s ability to ingratiate himself with certain political figures. Despite having absolutely no credentials, he even served as an advisor when social studies standards were being rewritten in California and Texas.</p><p>This week Montana Gov. Steve Bullock announced that he <a href="http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/religion/Content?oid=1730445">would not attend</a> a prayer breakfast where Barton was the featured speaker. Bullock is a Democrat, and LGBT groups in the state had urged him not to share a stage with Barton, whose views on LGBT issues are predictably extreme.</p><p>Barton’s standing among professional historians has already hit bottom. Is this the beginning of the end of this political influence as well? We can only hope.</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-barton">David Barton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/warren-throckmorton">Warren Throckmorton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/michael-coulter">Michael Coulter</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/chris-rodda">Chris Rodda</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/military-religious-freedom-foundation">Military Religious Freedom Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steve-bullock">Steve Bullock</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louie-lamour">Louie L&#039;Amour</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/grove-city-college">Grove City College</a></span></div></div>Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:16:29 +0000Rob Boston8115 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/barton-s-bad-season-christian-nation-advocate-continues-to-sink#comments